Top 10 Alcoholic Celebrities In India

Coping with sudden success, heartbreaks or maybe just wanting to have fun – the reasons are many for the rich and the famous to down a few too many drinks. And before they know it, they are on the first lane to the alcoholic farm.

We bring to you the top 10 alcoholic celebrities in India.

1. Arjun Rampal

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The brand ambassador for Chivas, Arjun Rampal started drinking at 21 – quite late by normal standards. That is because he was training to be an athlete; acting came later. And he has since been addicted to alcohol. The actor has been quite open about his trouble dealing with alcoholism.

2. Manisha Koirala

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A struggling love life and a dwindling career – Manisha Koirala is the object of fascination as well as pity of the paparazzi. The Nepali actress’ alcohol and nicotine addiction before she recovered from cancer is well known. Now she is apparently done with these vices.

3. Mahesh Bhatt

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Director Mahesh Bhatt too has battled through alcoholism – and instead of drowning in it, turned it around and made it into a movie ‘Daddy’. Some of Mahesh Bhatt’s successful films have been based on his personal problems – and his struggle with alcoholism also found a cinematic expression.

4. Rakhee Gulzar

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Often compared to the ‘queen of tragedy’ Meena Kumari for her dramatic roles, yesteryears diva Rakhee also battled alcoholism for quite some time. An unsuccessful marital life, with ex-husbands who had affairs with Kumari herself led her to drink a lot.

5. Dharmendra

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The actor has been an alcoholic for a good 15 years – and he was able to kick the habit after he took up writing. Dharmendra has openly said how his drinking habit nearly ruined his career and the drastic lifestyle changes he had to make to get a grip on his life.

6. Meena Kumari

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Meena Kumari was one of the most successful and adored actresses of the 60s, before she started losing it all to alcohol. In fact, she never was able to turn her life around, and died of liver cirrhosis at the age of 39. It is not just her onscreen characters, but her real life story too that went on to be the reason behind her nickname as the ‘Tragedy Queen’.

7. Javed Akhtar

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Another out-of-the-closet alcoholic Bollywood celeb is the lyricist Javed Akhtar. With a phase of alcohol dependence that spanned over a quarter of a decade, Akhtar used to finish a full bottle in a day by himself. Although this might have been the key behind some beautiful compositions!

8. Sanjeev Kumar

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Like Meena Kumari, actor Sanjeev Kumar’s life also resonated with many personal tragedies. He fell deeply in love with Hema Malini, but she never reciprocated his feelings. A successful actor onscreen, he was a shell of a man in real life who drowned his sorrows in alcohol and lived and died a bachelor.

9. Guru Dutt

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Guru Dutt’s life was also filled with heartbreak – he was the man who discovered and mentored actress Waheeda Rehman, and also fell in love with her. However, their love was never successful and it became the stuff of Bollywood romantic legends. And when drinking a lot did not ease his heartache, he committed suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills and alcohol.

10. Silk Smitha

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What you didn’t know about Silk Smitha, you learnt from the movie ‘The Dirty Picture’. Her career took a different turn than what she was expecting and at the fag end of her life, when she couldn’t make it as a producer and faced financial and romantic losses, her alcohol dependency increased. She fell into depression and committed suicide.

If these celebrities, dead and alive, are any examples – alcohol is never an answer. Recreational drinking is one thing; difficulty in coping in its absence is another.